Photo Credit: Northeastern Athletics
The Reading Royals have welcomed some family ties into the Flyers affiliated ECHL organization once again in James van Riemsdyk’s brother, Brendan. BvR (yes we are starting that) adds some size, physicality and skill into the organization. Coach Kirk MacDonald even spoke of it in his quote on the signing in August 2020 before their season was cancelled due to Covid-19, “Brendan adds size and a power-forward presence that we hope he can translate into his first season. We’re excited he will begin his professional career with the Royals after a few strong years playing in Hockey East.” This is a smart signing for the Royals and we will get into why below.
As stated above, Brendan van Riemsdyk adds size and physicality to your lineup. On top of that, he also has sneaky good skill too. In his four-year collegiate career van Riemsdyk tallied 22 goals, and 28 assists for 50 points in 144 total games played. He is not someone that blows you out of the water with his numbers, but he is a guy that out works many in the tough gritty areas of the ice and in front of the net just like his brother James for our beloved Flyers. Brendan is just starting his career and after having a good first three years at New Hampshire followed by another good season as a graduate transfer at Northeastern University. He is now poised and ready for the ECHL. His final year in college at Northeastern University, BvR had 27 penalties minutes showing off his grit, as well as, six points with two goals and four assists in 33 games played. Again not flashy numbers, but just like his brother’s game, he knows how to play the game the right way and get to the right spots on the ice.
van Riemsdyk was forced to spend his first professional season with the Knoxville Ice Bears of the SPHL in 2020-21, netting five goals and registering six assists in 16 games.
It is wonderful to see a family tie in Brendan van Riemsdyk come into the Royals organization. He is a player who has the same exact love of the game and work ethic as his brothers. Sitting at 6’3 201 pounds according to eliteprospects.com from the left handed side, van Riemsdyk is the perfect hard nosed player, that will never give into anyone to add in a lineup with a good mix of skill and fight already. I for one am going to keep my eye on BvR a lot and hope just like MacDonald he can translate his game to the next level at the ECHL.
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